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Dragon Ball AF
was the subject of an April Fool's joke in 1997 (following the end of ''Dragon Ball GT), which concerned a fourth anime installment of the ''Dragon Ball'' series. It has since gained a cult following and has spawned various fiction and manga interpretations by fans, the most notable being those by Team Toyble. Other fandom generated in response to the joke include the mangas Dragon Ball RN, Dragon Ball SF and Pre-Dragon Ball. History The Dragon Ball AF myth (in addition to many other, similar rumors with varying letter-combinations) seems to have begun in 1997, shortly after Dragon Ball GT ended in Japan. At the time, the supposed "GT sequel" was nameless, and the rumors relatively localized and short-lived. However, a piece of fan art began circulating around the Internet in 2000, bearing a logo reading "Dragon Ball AF", and promoting the supposedly new Super Saiyan 5 form. It was the inclusion of this logo that appeared to give it credence among some fans. In October 2000, a lengthy article appeared on the now-defunct fansite Majin.com, which raised the image's profile even further. This article purported to have "information" on the "new series" from a "source in Japan", though it was largely self-contradictory; it is not entirely clear, however, whether the article's author was being serious or tongue-in-cheek. Although the webmaster later recanted his claims, the rumors had already grown beyond his control, and the site ceased to be updated to mointnay. Thus, at the end of 2000, there began a new flurry of speculation and hearsay that grew over time into different rumors that exist even as of today. Interestingly, despite the dramatic changes the rumors have undergone since the original Majin.com article (not to mention the obvious lack of a new Dragon Ball series since 1997), the myth of Dragon Ball AF has endured to the present day among many non-Japanese fans. However, the reason for the rumor's popularity most likely stems from a more-or-less constant influx of new fans, who are unaware that there is no new Dragon Ball in production. In 2004, the noted Dragon Ball fansite Daizenshuu EX played upon the long-standing rumors in an April Fools' prank. While not the first time that a fansite has "announced" the series as a joke (it is a tradition that goes back to April 2001), their version was certainly the most elaborate: both a printed flyer and a commercial were made using existing artwork, and a new logo was created in Adobe Photoshop. The prank, from its conception to its execution, is documented as an in-depth feature on Daizenshuu EX. Both the "flyer" and "commercial" were full of hints (in Japanese-language) that they were not genuine, though many fans who did not know Japanese were quick to believe them wholeheartedly, in spite of the date. Although well-intended and well-done, this hoax caused quite a bit of confusion, helping to increase (at least temporarily) the already-rampant amount of fan speculation. Both the logo and flyer created by the webmasters of Daizenshuu EX have since appeared, bereft of their original context, on other websites. Those who are unaware of this prank may then be even more likely to believe in the rumors, an unintended consequence of the ease with which information is disseminated over the Internet. The flyer turned out to be rather self-referential in its humour, e.g. under the logo it reads "It's true! I heard it from a friend!" Lack of validity Within the realm of officially-licensed properties (those which are produced by or with the approval of Bird Studio, Shueisha, and Toei Animation), Dragon Ball AF simply does not exist. Any DBAF dojinshi, should they even exist, occupy the same legal status as fan fiction and fan art. There has been no new Dragon Ball material from Japan since 1997, other than the perfect edition manga (released 2002-2004) and the Dragon Box DVD boxed sets (released 2003-2006), which collect previously-existing material with some new artwork, but no new story arcs. Toriyama has publicly stated that he has no intentions of continuing the series (which he finished in 1995), though he has drawn a parody series, Neko Majin, in which several Dragon Ball characters appear, as well as a one shot Dragon Ball /''One Piece'' crossover manga collaboration with One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda entitled Cross Epoch, which came out in December 2006. The Dragon Ball fansite Daizenshuu EX has created a specifically-designed list of the features of AF that should disprove its existence to the especially obstinate. These are: # Lack of advertising in Japanese media. #* This point includes print sources (such as the Japanese Shonen Jump), TV ads, and official Japanese websites. Since Dragon Ball is well-known throughout Japan, a sequel series would not be released unpromoted, nor would it go unnoticed by the Japanese population. Daizenshuu EX took advantage of this fact, however, as part of its 2004 April Fool's joke, creating both a "print ad" and a "TV commercial" from other sources. This material, bereft of its context, has since been cited as "evidence" for the existence of AF. # Lack of official announcements by Toriyama, Shueisha, or Toei Animation. #* Tying in to the idea of "advertising" above, none of the official Japanese sources of Dragon Ball material have come forward with any news on the scale of AF. Such a series would warrant at least a comment, if not an elaborately-staged introduction, from one or more of these entities. Of course, this has not stopped fans from claiming that such an announcement has already taken place (though there is no record of one ever occurring). # Lack of articles, previews, or reviews of the series, in Japanese magazines or online blogs. #* Note, however, that some Japanese fans have taken to commenting on the AF phenomenon outside of Japan, and this may be regarded as commentary on the "series" itself by those who do not speak Japanese. Indeed, the language barrier has often been a source of obfuscation, both for those who would believe the rumors, and those whose goal is to spread them further. # Lack of scans from manga releases or screen captures / movie clips from new episodes. #* While many "faked" images (generally produced as humorous commentary on the rumors, or outside of AF but incorporated into it accidentally) do exist, there are no raw manga scans or unaltered screenshots available, anywhere. Particularly good artwork may be mistakenly viewed as "promotional art," but no media from within the manga/anime exists. Therefore, the burden of proof is on those who claim they own the series to put forth something they cannot possibly have (calls for such individuals to show whatever material they have are usually met by excuses or ad-hominem attacks). # Lack of scanlations or fansubs. #* Ethical and legal issues aside, a series as popular as Dragon Ball would not long remain without a fan-translated version. The methods of digital distribution are such that it would be virtually impossible not to find such materials, even in a casual search. Neither of these two things exists, however. # Lack of official merchandise. #* Dragon Ball is, and always has been, heavily marketed commercially. In Japan, a multitude of items, from action figures, to snacks, CDs, stationery, desks, and even children's eyedrops, have been sold as Dragon Ball products or endorsed by characters from the series. The lack of official AF merchandise, then, is a strong indicator that such a series does not in fact exist. # Official denial by both Viz Media and FUNimation. #* Such denials would run counter to the financial interests of both of these companies (the distributors of Dragon Ball manga and anime in the US) were the rumors to be true. It is highly unlikely that they would categorically dismiss a property that could make them millions of dollars. Perpetuation and contribution Rumors about Dragon Ball AF are chiefly spread through Internet forums and IRC, as well as Usenet and ordinary word-of-mouth. Those who read or hear these rumors may then set up web pages that serve to further propagate the myth. There are many supposed bits of "information" about the series, most of which stem from fans believing that fan art or fan fiction is from an official source. Fans have also embroidered upon the legend themselves, by adding new plot points and characters as they see fit. They likely mean such ideas to be mere speculation or wishful thinking, only to have their comments taken at face-value by others. Dragon Ball AF has been claimed, at various times by various individuals, to be a new or upcoming anime in Japan, a new manga series by Akira Toriyama himself, or a fan-made dōjinshi. The latter is probably the closest to the truth, but whether such fan-comics are the cause of the rumors or a product there off is unknown. Plot (s) Many fans have made different plots of what Dragon Ball AF but various of them are similar time period differences are changed though. Almost every plot is after Dragon Ball GT but some fans make a plot that replaces GT and starts it where Dragon Ball Z ended. Along with many fans even making the plot the as Goku Jr.'s time era. The most famous plot of Dragonball AF would be after Dragonball GT. Goku is off going from planet to planet training and he comes across one planet which looks absolutely beautiful, he goes onto this planet for training and finds that all the people there look perfect, and also the gravity is 1000 times that of earths so he figures its ideal for training for a little while. He also meets this stunningly beautiful woman Princess Lila who is really the Western Supreme Kai who try's to seduce Goku however Goku resists because of his heart belonging to Chi-chi, she senses this but makes love to him in his dreams. Shortly after Goku leaves the planet and as he leaves, the planet turns into silver and it disappears totally as well as everyone who inhabited it! Since the woman was a god and created a perfect illusion for Goku she also sensed how powerful he was, she wanted to have his baby and create the ultimate being. Later she gives birth to a child named Xicor who is naturally born as a super Saiyan 5, since he is half god and half Saiyan he is the ultimate being however he is pretty much useless as he needs to be trained by someone great, his father obviously, Goku, so he goes off in search of his real father to be trained by him and become the greatest warrior in the universe from which his mother wants him to be. Events said to have happen This is a list of events made by various accepted facts generally accepted by fans that would happen in the series: * Goku and Vegeta reach Super Saiyan 5. * The Dragon Balls come back into existence near the beginning * Bra becomes a main fighter and is a friendly rival for Pan. They also both become Super Saiyan and do fusions together. * The Human characters such as Krillin, Tien, Yamcha and Chiaotzu go back to fighting with the Z fighters and discover the ability to become a Super Human which is close to the power of the saiyans. * A way of doing three way fusions is discovered. * Dr. Myu teams up with Dr. Wheelo making the Ultimate Machine Mutant. * Tien and Launch get married along with Goten and Valese. * Piccolo is brought back to life from the Supreme Kai sacrificing his life. * Every Saiyan is brought back to life as Super Saiyans in a saga with a war between all the saiyans. Bardock and his team mates are on Goku's side but most of them end up dying. Bardock remains to live with his wife on Earth along with Raditz becomes a protagonist. Broly is also to be an anti-hero Reoccurring in the series and becomes a Super Saiyan 4. * Every non saiyan villian is brought back to life on the planet that used to be King Cold's castle. Every villian (including movie villians and weak villians from the original Dragon Ball) start a giant alliance against the Z fighters the leader of it is Frieza and Cooler permanently fused as one Super Warrior. Dende is captured to their planet and they threaten the Z fighters to travel to their planet and fight them or Dende gets killed. Goku gets every warrior to help him in this war on planet Cold against the former villians that all now have alot more power than before. * One villian near the end is so powerful is forces everyone to fuse together into one being to defeat it. * Dr. Gero ends up making a clone of himself as Gero Jr. Gero Jr. ends up having his own saga where he creates evil biological clones of all the Z fighters and even pitches the real Z fighters against each other. * Majiubb becomes a Good version of Super Buu or Kid Buu. New Characters Many new characters have been brought up from the AF rumor this is a list of various characters that are made but kept "alive" in the community. The appearences of alot of the characters seem to look like modified versions of existing characters. Some have been put into Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3 mods as different skins for characters already in the game. Hitsorashi Hitsorashi along with his partner Motchani were both gods of the underworld. Him and Motchani are brought back with the Dragon Balls to assist Xicor as his henchmen. Tien and Yamcha are the first to fight him and Motchani on the battle field. Hitsorashi and Motchani both kill them even after they fused into Tiencha. Afterwards Goku and Vegeta arrive on the scene to fight them fused as Gogeta. Gogeta fights them and they fuse into their own fused form Hitsochani. Hitsochani is killed in a spirit bomb that is launched by Gogeta as a Sneak attack with Xicor being Injured from it. Some fanfics have the opposite happen where Gogeta's spirit bomb kills Xicor but not Hitsochani but then is killed shortly afterwards. It is unknown if they were to appear again for the saga that features Every Non saiyan villian to come back to life and become an alliance. It is also unknown of Hitsorashi's race. He can possibly be human, Alien or some kind of humanoid Demon. Only one fan art piece online shows what would be Hitsorashi while non exist of Motchani or their fusion Hitsochani. Motchani Motchani is the partner of Hitsorashi and was brought back with the Dragon Balls to assist Xicor in his conquest. He and Hitsorashi defeated Tiencha and fused to make Hitsochani to fight Gogeta. He was killed in the end with Hitsorashi. His appearance and race are unknown but possibly looks or is the same race as Hitsorashi but no fan art exists online of this character so he has an unknown appearance. Kaarat After the defeat of Baby, of the Dr. Myu and General Rilldo there was a great war on the planet M2. On one side there were the mutant machines that wanted to reconstruct the empire projected by Myu, on the other side there were robots, like Gill, who wanted a new life without commanders. After 5 years of terrible battles the war was won by the supporters of the Tsufurus. These finished the construction of Saber, a cyborg of the highest intellective quotient, projected by the Dr. Myu in order to help him in the work to give to Baby a greater power. Saber reconstructed the research laboratories of the Dr. Myu, which have been damaged by the conflicts and after 50 years they have been restored completely. The project of construction of the perfect Tsufuru began at that time. Dr. Myu used the cells of the king of the Tsufurus in order to create a new clone, more powerful than Baby, a being that the Saiyan would have never been in a position to eliminate. Saber called its great work Kaarat (this is in fact the original name of the king of the Tsufurus) and conferred him the power to fuse with the spirits in order to absorb their spiritual energy and to became incredibly powerful. Princess Lila She originally is the Western Supreme Kai and survived the attack of Majin Buu. On her journey in space she developed an evil desire or became possessed by an evil force to conquer the universe. She met King Cold and breeded with him to have Cooler and Frieza making her their mom. After Frieza was defeated on Namek She became ashamed and desired a lust for Goku the one responsible. Sometime later when Goku was in on Yadrat or during the time of training Uub She offers herself to Goku. Goku Rejects her because of his love for Chi-chi and ends up making love to Lila in his dreams with her disquised as Chi-chi. She has Xicor and years later (In the time of the beginning of the series) comes to Earth with Xicor to start conquering the universe from there. She is killed by Vegeta in battle. In some Fanfics she comes back as a supporter to the Z fighters and Goku's Second wife. She is disliked by Chi-chi and is always in rival with her at taking care of Goku. Xicor He is the son of Princess Lila and Goku. He has his base form as a Super Saiyan 5 and is the first character to be one. Princess Lila made love to Goku in his dreams under the image of Chi-chi causing Xicor to be created. Xicor and Lila attack Earth before Goku is even there and starts battling the Z fighters. Xicor posses outstanding power strong enough to hold off three powerful blast from Gohan in his Super Saiyan 4 state, Vegeta in his Super Saiyan 4 state and Trunks in his Super Saiyan state or Super Saiyan 2.